I have always had the urge to go to Europe, and I especially want to feel the European style, but the journey is too far, and I looked at my wallet again, and I can't afford it, so I have been stuck in the idea. Later, someone introduced Vladivostok (wǎi) on the headline, which looked very good, and the most important thing was that he could experience the European style, so he decisively came on a trip that said he would go.
► Prepare in advance, not in a hurry
1. Knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent in order to be prepared, carefully consulted the information of Vladivostok, it turned out that it was called Vladivostok, and China was called Vladivostok, which belonged to the territory of China in the Qing Dynasty. In the late Qing Dynasty, it was robbed by Tsarist Russia and signed the "Beijing Treaty" and the "Yahun Treaty", and cut off a large area of northeastern China without fighting, including Sakhalin Island last time and Vladivostok this time, which is the eternal pain of the Chinese.
2. Why does China call it Vladivostok? Just look at the name, you can know that it is almost the same, it is really related to sea cucumbers. Vladivostok is rich in sea cucumbers here, and it means bay, so it was directly named this name, which is easy to remember. But there is also a lot of sea cucumber in the area, as well as other seafood.
3. Since it now belongs to Russia, the first thing you need to do when you go to Vladivostok is to prepare your passport and apply for a visa. There are two types of visas, one is an electronic visa and the other is a paper visa. Paper signature is relatively troublesome, you need to prepare an invitation letter and hotel reservation form and other information, the visa fee is less than 56 hundred, more than thousands, the approval cycle is relatively long, but the advantage is that the scope of application is wide, how to enter the country, I don't know how to handle it, find an intermediary online will save worry, but one thing to note is not to forget to bring the invitation letter over, in case you use it will not be delayed.
Electronic visa does not have to be so troublesome to prepare information, just go directly to the website to apply 4 days in advance, the approval is fast, and more importantly, it is free, which does not save money again, the disadvantage is that you can only enter from the airport and port, and it is not possible to go to Vladivostok by train and bus. The visa is valid for 30 days and the stay cannot exceed 8 days. I got an electronic visa, and the money saved was almost enough for a ticket.
4. The electric socket in Vladivostok is made of European standards, with two cylindrical sockets, and suddenly the European style came, which made me more confident to go here. The power plug is ready in China, buy it online in advance, it's cheap, tell the store where you're going, don't send the wrong model. Of course, you can also buy it there, the price is more expensive, but don't worry about buying the wrong one.
5. You can't do without your mobile phone wherever you go, even more so when you go abroad, send a WeChat message to your family to report safety, the translation app used in communication, and the navigation and map app when traveling, all of which are inseparable from mobile phones and the Internet. Therefore, open international roaming in advance, consult the relevant packages, and be well informed. If you don't want to open international roaming, it is also very convenient to apply for a mobile phone card in Vladivostok, the network speed is also good, there is no problem to make domestic calls, and the price is not expensive.
6. Although Vladivostok is common in Europe, it is not as convenient as Europe in terms of language. In Europe, you can basically communicate with English without hindrance, but Vladivostok, like the rest of Russia, basically does not know English, and most people speak Russian with tongues. Navigation and map apps can't be used by Baidu or AutoNavi, only by Google, but if you want to search for places in Russian, you can easily do it with the help of translation software.
►Happy departure, successful entry
1. Everything is ready, only to set off. Take a plane from Beijing, the ticket is cheap less than 2,000 yuan round trip, and the flight takes more than 2 hours to arrive at the airport in Vladivostok. After getting off the plane to go through immigration procedures, prepare your passport and e-visa issuance notice (print it yourself), and forget to mention it earlier, that is, a valid accident insurance policy in Russia, which used to require a minimum insurance amount of 30,000 euros, is now not mandatory. These three things are indispensable, and the border inspectors will be released after passing the inspection, and they will successfully enter Vladivostok.
2. After entering the country, you can no longer use your RMB or WeChat Alipay, you can only use rubles, but now the exchange rate of RMB against rubles is 1:13, and I really think it is a good deal. I didn't prepare rubles in advance, I got them at the ATM at the airport, I can use a UnionPay card, and of course you won't have problems with your visa card. As a solemn reminder, although it is relatively convenient to swipe a card in Vladivostok, cash is always the king, and it is never wrong to have cash ready.
3. It is a 4-hour drive from the airport to the city of Vladivostok, and the scenery along the way can be said to be both empty and desolate and refreshing, with a large area of black earth covered with a layer of snow, revealing a poignant beauty. When I saw that the vast expanse of black land was empty, I was convinced that it was true that Russians were lazy, and that if this was still a Chinese place, how could they not let such a good land be wasted, which was really emotional. There are some towns on the way, there are few people, and the buildings are indeed European style, with a variety of colors and great sights.
4. After 4 hours, I finally arrived at the urban area of Vladivostok, where there are many people, blonde and blue-eyed Russian beauties and tall and handsome Russian boys can be seen everywhere on the street, the streets are clean and tidy, the European style of the building is a water, and the exotic style is undoubtedly revealed. Accommodation due to the limited budget did not choose a good hotel, set a hostel dozens of dollars per night, see some netizens said that a 1100 yuan per night hotel room is still small pitiful. Prepare a budget for meals, and try everything you can eat.
►The tour officially begins, and there are many surprises
1. Vladivostok is not a big city, you can visit most of the scenic spots by walking, and especially conscientious, these attractions are free, not fenced, and no tickets are required. If you don't want to walk far away, take a bus, and don't take a taxi if you can. Take a taxi in China, see the empty taxi beckoning and stop, Russian taxi is not so convenient, here are all phone calls, no matter how you wave on the road, you will not be pulled. The bus fare in Vladivostok is about the same as in China, 28 rubles per person, there is no conductor, the fare is given to the driver, there is no change, the driver will find you. The biggest difference between Vladivostok buses and China is that the country is on the front door and under the back door, which is just the opposite, don't make a mistake.
2. I did not follow the routine to visit the Vladivostok route, not to visit the city first, but the first stop I chose to go to the Tobyzina Cape, which is said to be very beautiful, just came to have good energy, suitable for climbing high and low. Cape Tobitina used to be a military-controlled area and could not be visited, but it has only been opened in recent years, so the curiosity mentality made me come here first.
Take the No. 29 bus from the city, I walked according to Google navigation, let get off the bus, let go for a while, let enter the woods to enter the woods, the road conditions are very difficult to walk, and I met a fox, and fantasized about whether it would become a beauty, and I was fascinated. After walking for about 4-5 km, you reach the southernmost point of Cape Tobitina.
Of course, you can also charter a car, but the chartered bus will not go directly, and you still need to walk more than half of the distance. The southernmost tip of the Tobitina Cape is the most beautiful, standing on a huge rock, with a cliff in front of it, and as far as the eye can see, the boundless sea, how many worries have been put down here.
3. Cape Tobizina is an undeveloped attraction, so extra attention should be paid to safety. There are several roads to the southernmost point, among which there is a small road similar to a wall-hung road, which is very narrow and very slippery after rain and snow, so you must not try it easily, I did not dare to walk, it is too dangerous. When you go to the Cape Tobyzina you must pay attention to the time, you can't go too late, the bus will stop running too late, you can't go back, there is no place to stay nearby, there are a lot of wild animals, and camping is very unsafe.
4. The most famous attraction in Vladivostok is the last spot in the movie "July and Ansheng": Tokanev Lighthouse. The lighthouse is located at the southernmost tip of Vladivostok, isolated in the ocean at high tide, and when the tide recedes, the long gravel road is like a link, holding this lonely lighthouse tightly, giving people a warm but sad feeling.
Prepare thicker clothes when you come here, it's really cold when the sea breeze blows. It is not only visited by tourists, but also by locals. Sunny days and cloudy days feel completely different, on a clear day, the sky is blue and the water is clear and endless, and on a cloudy day, the sky is heavy and the sea is dark, giving people a bleak and compelling feeling. Locals told me that the scenery is even more beautiful when the sea freezes in winter, but unfortunately I didn't have a chance this time.
5. The third stop I chose Glass Beach, which was in Vladivostok in Ussuri Bay. The glass of the glass beach is not natural, it is the glass bottle that is broken, and the sharp edges and corners are washed away by the sea water for a long time, which is colorful, and the sun shines very beautifully. The truth is that Russians drink so much alcohol and that there are a lot of broken bottle crumbs on the beach, and that's really shocking to me. But after looking around, I found that the beach here is very large, but not all of them have this kind of glass, just a small piece of it, I really don't regret it, I regret it even more!
6. The attractions at the far point of Vladivostok are almost these places, and the other attractions are in the city or nearby. Therefore, the next step is to visit the city, so that the arrangement will not delay the plan to return to China. The city tour starts at Victory Square, which is still close to the city center.
Victory Square stands a monument to Soviet fighters, dedicated to the victory of the February and October Revolutions of 1917. There are some small vendors selling some souvenirs near the square, and there are many bus stop signs, so the transportation is very convenient. There are a lot of hostels and hotels around the square, and the hostel where I stayed was also nearby. There is nothing else, by the way, there are a lot of pigeons, and it is a good idea to bring some bread to feed the pigeons. I didn't go, I was afraid of pigeons since I was a child.
7. The train station in Vladivostok is very close to Victory Square, and you can walk there in a while. Vladivostok railway station is the terminus of the 9,288-kilometer-long Trans-Siberian Railway, which is very European in architecture and has a history of more than 100 years. The main color of yellow and white makes people feel very solemn and clean, and there are no escalators on the platform, so you can only climb the stairs well.
In the center of the platform is the locomotive of a steam locomotive, which has a sense of history. Opposite the train station is the statue of Lenin, which is indispensable in many Russian cities, so take a casual look. Of course, you don't need to spend a penny to visit these places, and the attractions are free.
8. There are also churches in Vladivostok, the Orthodox Church, although I am not religious, but I also visited it, and there is not much difference from the churches in other places, so I won't talk about it. There is also a triumphal arch near the church, which is said to have been built by the Chinese, and some said to have been built by the Russians to commemorate Napoleon's defeat.
Next to the church is the Submarine Museum, which requires an entrance fee, 100 rubles per person, which is really cheap when calculated in RMB. The Submarine Museum is a real submarine, the C-56 in World War II, with outstanding achievements, sinking more than 10 German ships, and it is sighing that the crew of the submarine did not survive when they hit a mine on the way back. Later, Russia salvaged it and built this submarine museum, many of which are real submarine interiors, and it is very good to feel the life of submarines in a shallow way.
Near the Submarine Museum is the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet, and there are warships docked opposite, which is very eye-opening.
9. Vladivostok's signature delicacy is none other than king crab, the price is very close to the people, 2000-3000 rubles a kilogram, and it will be done for you, whether it is a price that you can't even think about in China. I was also going to go to the Internet celebrity restaurant Zuma's restaurant to eat, but the reservation failed, and I couldn't take my turn, so I could only go to seafood to eat, the same delicious, and the price was lower than Zuma. There are also other seafood restaurants that have king crab that are also good, just search on Google Maps.
10. Vladivostok is Russia's territory after all, it's really not like not to eat Russian food, I chose Studio Cafe & Terrace, I saw netizens say that this is very good, I really didn't step on the pit after eating it myself, the price is not expensive, and the taste is good. The red soup, pasta, pizza, grilled sausages and coffee are all well done.
After eating Russian food, I went to try Georgian food again, I chose Supra, the grilled buns and cheese pie are their signature, and there are all kinds of skewers, you must not order too much, the meat skewers are really big. I also went to the Brother's Bar recommended by netizens, it really looks like a bar, but the steak is really good, and I drank some wine, and the environment and atmosphere are quite satisfied.
► At the end of the tour, I am reluctant to give up
Time is really fast, the number of days allowed to stay in the visa is coming in a blink of an eye, and I am really a little reluctant to pack my mood and luggage to prepare to return home, maybe because this is our land, or it may be because I haven't traveled all over the corners here. In any case, the wanderer must return home. This time I stopped taking the car and found a new line, which is to take the airport express train, which can be taken next to the train station, and the cost is 250 rubles, which is much cheaper than taking a car. Goodbye, Vladivostok!